L&S Faculty Awards 2002

The Distinguished Research Mentor award is designed to honor individual faculty members who have performed exceptional service as research mentors for undergraduate students.

The Distinguished Faculty Advisor award is designed to recognize faculty members who have made a significant contribution to undergraduate education by offering outstanding counsel and guidance to undergraduates in planning their academic and professional careers.

Distinguished Research Mentors 2002 Distinguished Faculty Advisors

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Marianne Constable of Rhetoric was honored for her sustained and extraordinary contributions as a mentor in the humanities. The eighteen apprentices that she has worked with through the Undergraduate Research Apprentice Program gave her high praise for guiding them closely through sophisticated and challenging research. They wrote with deep appreciation of her one-on-one guidance of their apprenticeships, and her skill at opening up the problems for them and guiding them to useful resources. It is not surprising that they also turned to her for support when developing their own research projects. All of them left with a greater appreciation of what faculty do outside the classroom, and many of them have cited her influence as central to their choice to go on to graduate work. As one student put it: “I know I am not the only student who learned to care about an intellectual project through her.”

Alex Filippenko of Astronomy has involved undergraduates in his supernovae research continuously since 1997. His students have been listed in about 200 “International Astronomical Union Circulars,” the newsletter that reports the discovery of supernovae. Many of them have co-authored research papers. Undergraduates are important contributors at his weekly pizza lunches, where current research is discussed and students find themselves to be a real part of an international research community. Indeed, Filippenko’s chair wrote that “his cadre of undergraduates has grown to the point where I have had to make formal research space for them, as if they were graduate students.” As one student wrote “in the formative stage of the undergraduate career, when one develops scientific thinking, it is crucial to have such a nurturing and inspirational advisor.”

Distinguished
Research Mentor
Alex Filippenko

Distinguished Research Mentor
Gary Firestone

Gary Firestone of Molecular and Cell Biology always has 5 to 8 undergraduate researchers in his lab, and as his nomination letters attest, he knows those students very well. As one student wrote “Dr Firestone has a genuine interest in working with undergraduates and treats them as his peers. This personal attention helps us to become better researchers who are not afraid to ask questions and even argue their point.” He encourages his undergraduates to apply for funding and they succeed: his lab has included Haas Scholars, David Scholars, Biology Fellows and President’s Fellows. Since 1995 undergraduates in his lab have co-authored 17 papers in important research journals. He is, as one student has written, “supremely committed to undergraduate research and education.”

Caroline Kane is well known in MCB as a superlative mentor, but she was honored this year for service to undergraduate research that goes far beyond her home department. Professor Kane was nominated by the Undergraduate Division because of her sustained encouragement of undergraduate research campus wide. Well known on campus for her roles in the Biology Fellows Program, the Biology Scholars Program, the new Biology Transfer Consortium and the Coalition for Excellence and Diversity in Mathematics, Science, and Engineering, she has advised hundreds of students on publishing and presenting research, and she has worked with dozens of campus staff to design programs that encourage students to become involved in research while minimizing the administrative and bureaucratic obstacles that can keep students from participating. “Her students treasure her,” wrote one of her students. Indeed, the whole campus does.

Distinguished Research Mentor
Caroline Kane

First Distinguished Faculty Advisor
Robert Knapp

Robert Knapp, a professor of Classics and a former associate dean for undergraduate advising, was honored as the first recipient of the Rhoda H. Goldman Award for Distinguished Faculty Advising of Undergraduates. This new award honors faculty who have “made a significant contribution to undergraduate education by offering outstanding counsel and guidance to undergraduates in planning their academic and professional careers.” Professor Knapp has been a particularly active faculty advisor in Classics, developing an annual reception for interested undergraduates, and working with the department’s student organization to host classically-oriented events. As a chair he has placed strong emphasis on undergraduates both in reformulating the curriculum and in fundraising for items such as travel grants for undergraduate study in classical lands. With characteristic concern, Knapp writes personal letters each year to newly admitted freshmen who have taken high-school Latin, inviting them to take courses in Classics. Many who received the freshmen letter from Robert Knapp have continued in his care and friendship well beyond graduation. Students praised his concern for them not just as classicists, but as individuals.

Dacher Keltner of Psychology encourages undergraduates to “follow their passions,” and to work on projects that inspire them. They listen: his list of students sponsored for 99s, 199s and honors theses since Spring 1999 runs to four pages. He works most closely with his thesis students who describe Keltner as “enthusiastic,” “positive” and “encouraging.” One student wrote “I genuinely mean it when I say that every meeting with him renewed my interest and reinvigorated my momentum in studying psychology.” Another wrote, “Working with Dacher made me feel, for the first time at Cal, as though I were working with a colleague, someone who respected and appreciated my contributions.”

Distinguished Research Mentor
Dacher Keltner


The Distinguished Research Mentor award is designed to honor individual faculty members who have performed exceptional service as research mentors for undergraduate students.	The Distinguished Faculty Advisor award is designed to recognize faculty members who have made a significant contribution to undergraduate education by offering outstanding counsel and guidance to undergraduates in planning their academic and professional careers.

Distinguished Research Mentors 2002 Distinguished Faculty Advisors
Photo not available	Marianne Constable of Rhetoric was honored for her sustained and extraordinary contributions as a mentor in the humanities. The eighteen apprentices that she has worked with through the Undergraduate Research Apprentice Program gave her high praise for guiding them closely through sophisticated and challenging research. They wrote with deep appreciation of her one-on-one guidance of their apprenticeships, and her skill at opening up the problems for them and guiding them to useful resources. It is not surprising that they also turned to her for support when developing their own research projects. All of them left with a greater appreciation of what faculty do outside the classroom, and many of them have cited her influence as central to their choice to go on to graduate work. As one student put it: “I know I am not the only student who learned to care about an intellectual project through her.”
	Alex Filippenko of Astronomy has involved undergraduates in his supernovae research continuously since 1997. His students have been listed in about 200 “International Astronomical Union Circulars,” the newsletter that reports the discovery of supernovae. Many of them have co-authored research papers. Undergraduates are important contributors at his weekly pizza lunches, where current research is discussed and students find themselves to be a real part of an international research community. Indeed, Filippenko’s chair wrote that “his cadre of undergraduates has grown to the point where I have had to make formal research space for them, as if they were graduate students.” As one student wrote “in the formative stage of the undergraduate career, when one develops scientific thinking, it is crucial to have such a nurturing and inspirational advisor.”	Distinguished Research Mentor Alex Filippenko
Distinguished Research Mentor Gary Firestone	Gary Firestone of Molecular and Cell Biology always has 5 to 8 undergraduate researchers in his lab, and as his nomination letters attest, he knows those students very well. As one student wrote “Dr Firestone has a genuine interest in working with undergraduates and treats them as his peers. This personal attention helps us to become better researchers who are not afraid to ask questions and even argue their point.” He encourages his undergraduates to apply for funding and they succeed: his lab has included Haas Scholars, David Scholars, Biology Fellows and President’s Fellows. Since 1995 undergraduates in his lab have co-authored 17 papers in important research journals. He is, as one student has written, “supremely committed to undergraduate research and education.”
	Caroline Kane is well known in MCB as a superlative mentor, but she was honored this year for service to undergraduate research that goes far beyond her home department. Professor Kane was nominated by the Undergraduate Division because of her sustained encouragement of undergraduate research campus wide. Well known on campus for her roles in the Biology Fellows Program, the Biology Scholars Program, the new Biology Transfer Consortium and the Coalition for Excellence and Diversity in Mathematics, Science, and Engineering, she has advised hundreds of students on publishing and presenting research, and she has worked with dozens of campus staff to design programs that encourage students to become involved in research while minimizing the administrative and bureaucratic obstacles that can keep students from participating. “Her students treasure her,” wrote one of her students. Indeed, the whole campus does.	Distinguished Research Mentor Caroline Kane
First Distinguished Faculty Advisor Robert Knapp	Robert Knapp, a professor of Classics and a former associate dean for undergraduate advising, was honored as the first recipient of the Rhoda H. Goldman Award for Distinguished Faculty Advising of Undergraduates. This new award honors faculty who have “made a significant contribution to undergraduate education by offering outstanding counsel and guidance to undergraduates in planning their academic and professional careers.” Professor Knapp has been a particularly active faculty advisor in Classics, developing an annual reception for interested undergraduates, and working with the department’s student organization to host classically-oriented events. As a chair he has placed strong emphasis on undergraduates both in reformulating the curriculum and in fundraising for items such as travel grants for undergraduate study in classical lands. With characteristic concern, Knapp writes personal letters each year to newly admitted freshmen who have taken high-school Latin, inviting them to take courses in Classics. Many who received the freshmen letter from Robert Knapp have continued in his care and friendship well beyond graduation. Students praised his concern for them not just as classicists, but as individuals.
	Dacher Keltner of Psychology encourages undergraduates to “follow their passions,” and to work on projects that inspire them. They listen: his list of students sponsored for 99s, 199s and honors theses since Spring 1999 runs to four pages. He works most closely with his thesis students who describe Keltner as “enthusiastic,” “positive” and “encouraging.” One student wrote “I genuinely mean it when I say that every meeting with him renewed my interest and reinvigorated my momentum in studying psychology.” Another wrote, “Working with Dacher made me feel, for the first time at Cal, as though I were working with a colleague, someone who respected and appreciated my contributions.”	Distinguished Research Mentor Dacher Keltner